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Congratulations to Kara Lucas
Kara Lucas, former Building Inspector for the City of Magee, received her Master of Fine Arts in Historic Preservation from Mississippi State University.
Kara is a member of the first graduating class to earn this degree. She is the daughter Gloria and the late Tommy Lucas.
Among those earning their degrees were:
- Rachel Bozeman
- Kara Lucas
- Charlyn King
- Tommy King
- Cyndi Parker
- Halley Roy
Six students completed the rigorous curriculum, which focuses on historic preservation combined with field studies in preservation, earning their master’s degrees during a commencement ceremony held on May 16 in Starkville. (Mississippi State)
Check this out!
Coined “a small city with a big heart,” the The City of Magee, Mississippi, is proud of its historic roots and boasts a revitalized downtown as a Main Street member. Let’s learn more about the place with a “refreshing change of pace.”
Magee was once known as “Sullivan’s Hallow.” It is a small community with a rich history reflected in its inhabitants, buildings, sites, and oral histories. The Simpson County area was in the extreme southwest portion of the southern division of the Six Towns district of the Choctaw Nation under the famous Chief Pushmataha. Simpson County was created in 1824 from the Choctaw Cession. The earliest settlers to Magee were two brothers-in-law, Arthur Mangum and Phil Magee, and their wives, sisters Penny and Polly Butler, who entered land near Sanitorium Spring under the Bit Act in 1819-1820. In 1840, Willie Magee built a grist mill on Little Goodwater Creek. In 1859, Richard Farthing, a Virginian and tanner by trade, used the water from the mill pond and built a tan yard near Mangum’s Mill, making shoes and red top boots from raw hides. His work gained him fame with soldiers under a contract with the Confederate Government.
Between 1865 and 1900, several establishments opened in the area, including a small store, a sawmill, a cotton gin, a general store, a post office, a blacksmith shop, and a tombstone factory. The town center had been established at the point where the tracks of two destructive windstorms in 1861 and 1898 had crossed. The expansion of the Gulf and Ship Island Railroad in 1900 led to further growth in homes and businesses. On July 23, 1900, Magee was officially incorporated. In 1918, a survey was conducted for a highway connecting Magee with the Gulf Coast and important points to the north. The Mississippi State Tuberculosis Sanatorium also opened in 1918 and served patients until the 1950s.
Today, the City of Magee has begun identifying historic resources in the downtown and residential areas. These resources include the Magee Community House, Magee School Complex, The McAlpin House and Gardens, and the Dr. Boswell House. The city is dedicated to identifying and preserving the town’s history and aims to build bridges encompassing its entirety.
We commend Magee’s historic preservation efforts and are eager to see what they will accomplish as a CLG!
(Information from the Heritage & Historic Preservation NPS)
Congratulations to Kara and her accomplishment.
Group shot by Eric Parker
Kara first on left
MageeNews.com is the online news source for Simpson and surrounding counties as well as the state of Mississippi
